Method of packaging



R. J. WEIKERT 2,783,599

METHOD OF PACKAGING Filed April 7 1953 March 5, 1957 FIG I Ill.

INVENTOR. ROY I1. WEIKERT BY 7mi /wzm- ATTORNEYS United States Patent METHOD OF PACKAGING Roy J. Weikert, Covington, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to General Films, Inc., Covington, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 7, 1953, Serial No. 347,217

2 Claims. (Cl. 5330) This invention relates to an article especially adapted for the packaging of food stufis and the like, and to a method of packaging food stuffs utilizing the said article.

In the modern merchandising of food stufis one of the preferred manners of displaying such articles, particularly meat products, is in the open refrigerated case with the individual articles precut and packaged. The packages that are employed are preferably moisture impervious to as high a degree as possible, in order to prevent any substantial change in the moisture content of the packaged products and also to prevent contamination thereof. Packages of this nature should also be as transparent as possible, in order to enable the purchaser to observe the merchandise being purchased as closely as possible.

Heretofore the packaging employed for articles of food stuff of this nature have been at fault in certain respects. In some cases, the packaging material was of such a nature that it was diflicult to efiect a complete sealing about the packaged article, thus permitting an exchange of moisture between the interior of the package and the surrounding atmosphere, and likewise preventing an opportunity for contamination of the packaged goods. In other cases, the material of the package was not sufficiently transparent, particularly where it was necessary to lap the material in order to close the package.

Similarly, since most food stuffs that are to be packaged in this manner are of more or less irregular outline, and of varying sizes, such packages were ordinarily wrinkled, and thus did not present a neat appearance, and also permitted the inclusion within the package of a substantial amount of airand the still further possibility that the wrinkled portions of the enclosing packaging or container could readily be snagged and torn.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method of packaging food stufis and an article for use in connection with the said method which will eliminate the difliculties referred to above.

A particular object is the provision of an article especially adapted for the packaging of food stuffs which can be hermetically sealed after the food stufi has been placed therein.

A still further object is the provision of an article for the packaging of food stuffs and a method of enclosing it about the food stufis so that a hermetically sealed and very close-fitting package results.

A particular object is an article for packaging food stuffs and a method of applying the article such that a substantially wrinkle-free and highly transparent package results through which the food stuffs can readily be observed.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent upon reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view showing 'ice 2 the manner in which the packaging article according to this invention is formed from a sheet of the material;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of an article according to this invention as it comes from the forming station;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the container with an article of food stuff placed therein;

Figure 4 is a view like Figure 3 but shows the open end of the container gathered together;

Figure 5 is a view like Figure 4 showing the. gathered end of the container closed by a wire or tie string;

Figure 6 is a view showing another method for closing the gathered end of the container wherein a heated wire is used to sever the container at the gathered point and also to hermetically seal the open end of the container;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the closed container;

Figure 8 is a more or less diagrammatic perspective view showing the manner in which the packaged food stuff, after the container has been closed, as illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7-, 'is passed through a flash heating station in which heat causes the material of the container to shrink and tightly embrace the packaged article;'and

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 7 but showing the appearance of the'packaged article after it has passed through the flash heating station.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, in Figure 1 there is shown the step of forming the container which forms a part of this invention. In this figure there is a sheet of heat softenable material at 10, such as Pliofilm, which is gripped about its periphery by the gripping elements 12, while the center portion is deformed by a forming member 14, the sheet either being heated prior to the forming or the forming member being heated, or both.

The resulting article, indicated at 16, in Figure 2, is a bag-like element which is extremely thin and pliant, but, nevertheless, being possessed 'of' considerable strength. This article, which is to form the container in which the food stuff is to be placed, at this point can be packaged in quantity and shipped to a point of use. Optionally, of course, the container can be produced where it is to be used, and in either case, the container is employed for packaging food stuffs by placing within the container 16, as will be seen in Figure 3, some article of food stufi, such as the ham 18.

After the article to be packaged has been placed in the container, the open end of container 16 is gathered together, as at 20 in Figure 4. The gathered portion of container 16 is then permanently closed, as by a wire or tie string, indicated at 22 in Figure 5, or by the hot wire 24, as illustrated in Figure 6.

The shearing off of the gathered portion of "the container "by a hot Wire not only eliminates the surplus portion of the container beyond the gathered portion, but also hermetically seals the container by melting the heat softenable material and welding it together. Optionally, the gathered portion of the container can be both mechanically tied, as illustrated in Figure 5, and also hermetically heat-sealed, as illustrated in Figure 6.

In any case, a package results which will appear somewhat as is illustrated in Figure 7, and wherein the container 16 embraces the packaged article relatively closely but is, nevertheless, somewhat wrinkled and loose in certain places. This is a natural consequence in the variation in the size and shape of the articles being packaged, and the fact that the container must be made in predetermined sizes and shapes in order to observe manufacturing economies.

According to the present invention, the container is made to fit closely and in wrinkle-free relation about the article being packaged by subjecting the packaged article to a flash heating step, as illustrated in Figure 8. In Figure 8 the packaged articles are arranged on a conveyor 26 which conveys the packaged articles through an enclosure 28 provided with heating means, such as the infra-red radiators 30. This fiash heating step, which may last only from a half minutcto a minute, and on the order of about 250 F, for Pliofiim, will cause the container to shrink strongly, and substantially all of the wrinkles will be removed therefrom, thus resulting in a neater package and one which is far more transparent than before the wrinkles were removed.

' Optionally, and in order to provide for relieving of the air from the container during the shrinking step, the container may be gathered as illustrated in Figure 4, and then loosely tied and then passed through the shrinking step, and then the gathered portion of the container either tightly tied or hermetically sealed, or both. This modified series or steps would provide for the releasing of air from inside the container during the shrinking thereof, whereby a better appearing package would result and one having less air inside the package which would contribute to the drying out of the packaged article and the possible contamination thereof.

The article and method of this invention can not only be utilized for packaging meat products, but also be adapted to the packaging of vegetable, dairy, and fruit products, if so desired, and substantially the same advantages Will be obtained. It will be unclerstood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt .it to diiferent usages and conditions, and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A method of packaging irregularly shaped foodstuffs and the like wherein the surface thereof is substantially straight in at least one direction and the sealed end of the package is adjacent said straight portion and comprising the steps of positioning the foodstuffs in a heat deformable open end plastic bag-like container with the straight portion directed toward said open end, loosely gathering the open end of the container to define a passage to the interior of the container, loosely tieing the gathered end of the container to retain the passage to the interior of the container, uniformly heating the container to cause shrinking thereof around the foodstuff and releasing of the air from within the container during the shrinking process through the loosely tied open end to provide a smooth substantially wrinkle-free package closely conforming to the contour of the foodstulf with the tied end of the package being tightly drawn to closely fit against the surface of the foodstuff, and hermetically sealing the loosely gathered end of the container to form a sealed container,-

2. A method of packaging an irregularly shaped food stuff having a flat end to form a smooth, wrinkle-free package having its sealed end closely fitting the fiat end of the foodstuff and comprising the steps of positioning the foodstuif in a heat deformable open-end plastic bag-like container with the flat end thereof directed towards said open end, loosely gathering the open end of the container todefine a passage into the interior of the container, loosely ticing the gathered end of the container to retain the passage therein, uniformly heating the container to cause shrinking thereof around the foodstuff and releasing the air from within the container during the shrinking process through the loosely tied open end to provide a smooth, substantially wrinkle-free package closely conforming to the contour of the foodstuff with the tied end of the package being tightly drawn to closely fit against the surface of the foodstuff, and hermetically sealing the loosely gathered end of the container to form a sealed container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,071,300 Gammeter Feb. 16, 1937 2,168,651 McCoy Aug. 8, 1939 2,312,049 Pfeiffer Feb. 23, 1943 2,331,762 Brown Oct. 12, 1943 2,344,369 Salfisberg Mar. 14, 1944 2,376,583 De Poix May 22, 1945 2,554,636 Pfeiffer May 29, 1951 2,615,200 Cloud Oct. 28, 1952 2,622,380 Snyder Dec. 23, 1952 2,656,658 Grady Oct, 27., 1953 

